The real cost of the invisible boss

Caroline James

Philip Owens: employee engagement is the casualty of the invisible boss.

Is your boss barely there, happy to leave you to it even when workplace crises strike?

We all know managers who struggle to step back from their workers. But what about their opposite number – the invisible manager – who holds the leader's job title but contributes little in the way of direction, mentorship or motivation?

Aloof bosses can be just as costly to businesses as their micro-managing brethren, warn workplace relations experts.

"If workers are not getting what they want they can start talking to people at the pub or on Facebook and saying 'don't go near that person'; it can quickly become toxic and threaten your business's brand."

The head of the Australian division of the multinational human resources giant says businesses with bosses who are habitually missing in action will bear big bottom-line costs associated with losing valued employees, losing customer relationships and replacing staff members.

"There are various ways to quantify 'cost' but, yes, we are talking thousands and thousands of dollars' extra cost if a business has management who are disengaged," Shepherd says.

What's your experience of the MIA boss? Post a comment and let us know.

Sally Foley-Lewis once had a boss who was actively looking for another job and therefore always distracted.

Foley-Lewis says the man "wasn't particularly hands off" initially but became more distant over the next year.

Today she works independently as a management trainer, speaker, coach and author.

"I could see over the months that I worked with him, his increasing disengagement ... it was like he always had one foot out the door mentally," she says.

"I ended up asking him directly what was going on and he did admit to me, yes, I am unhappy and ready to go.

"Now I don't think that is something that will always be appropriate to ask, it may not be career enhancing, but if you do clearly see change in a manager's behaviour, knowing the root cause can often help you to manage the effects that this hands-off management style is having on you."

The chief executive of IT&T recruitment company Peoplebank recalls working with a disengaged boss at telecommunications company Optus in the 1990s. It ended up fast-tracking his career.

"I was in a pretty senior role and could see opportunities to promote our division and to shine in my own role," Acheson says.

"He [the former boss] trusted me and basically said 'yes, look go for it' so I did, I got promoted in 2000."

Acheson says if he still had a hands-off boss, he would "see it as a great opportunity for a go-getter employee".

"My rule of how to succeed in companies is to always do more than is expected of you, particularly if you have a disengaged boss because they are often not doing those expected tasks themselves," he says. "It hands you your chance to shine."

Tips for surviving and thriving if your boss is disengaged:

First ask yourself what it is that the boss does/or doesn't do that makes them appear aloof?

Is it just your opinion or is it a view held by all workers of this boss?

How is this behaviour affecting the business?

Start self-managing where possible; think of yourself as a mini-business.

You don't need "manager" in your job title to effect management-like changes.

Set the boundaries by establishing polices that enable you to progress projects.

Use email for updates, reports and requests so you can easily demonstrate your progress.

Manage your own development by building networks/mentors and skills development if possible.

Protect yourself by demanding periodic meetings with your boss, agreeing to your key performance indicators, which you put in writing and circulate to your boss.

Catch the eye of executive management by taking on projects for your boss's boss.

Try to stay actively engaged with your job and drive your own agenda; it is usually noticed higher up.

Just because your boss has disengaged from their own role, don't disengage from them; their aloofness may be temporary and/or their tenure may be short-lived.

Don't take it personally, and don't give up.

4 comments so far

I had a boss who was a micromanager but also expected communication to go one way. Expected me to be reachable via email, chat and phone and even wanted me to carry a pager at all times but if I needed to speak to him about even something as simple as a typical work issue that required some input, I had to make an appointment as if to say his time was more valuable. Arrogant tool. Strange and stupid considering he was someone I reported directly to.

Another boss I had was a lazy sole trader who did whatever he wanted because no one could tell him to pull his socks up. Typical day for him was turning up just after 9 because he had to drop his kids off (why not do it earlier like everyone else?), spend 30 minutes to an hour responding to emails before going off to a mate's cafe for a long lazy breakfast which sometimes turned into lunch, then go to another mate's business to do some more bludging while telling us to tell client's he was "offsite" before coming back at around 3 to do some invoicing work and then have a whinge that there wasn't enough business coming in.

Commenter

Kev

Date and time

March 11, 2014, 8:01AM

Perhaps this article could be recycled in a few months, with a new headline. Perhaps "How to Climb the Greasy Pole"?

The critical step that will be missed by many of your readers is the direct conversation with the boss. One should not proceed with any of the tips without having the implicit support of the boss involved.

Any normal boss who is planning to leave will be happy to assist and guide their preferred successor, but this MUST be done in co-operation. Without this, some of the "tips" above are high risk behaviours that will almost certainly result in a damaged relationship between the boss and his ambitious (former) protege.

Can I suggest to any readers, before you "catch the eye of executive management" and more generally start acting like a sociopath, have the hard and direct conversation with your boss first. Do it over a cup of coffee and have some genuine empathy.

Commenter

EQ

Date and time

March 11, 2014, 8:20AM

Good point - this phenomenon can be seen a lot in the APS. Managers there tend to manage upwards and not downwards. They strategise with the people around them in the hierarchy and basically ignore those below. Line managers should be taking their share of the load at their level and thereby clearing the way for their underlings so they can be more productive. This so often doesn't happen.

Commenter

RobP

Date and time

March 11, 2014, 9:40AM

Some of the most enjoyable jobs I have had involved 'hands off' bosses. If you are capable and experienced, work well without direction, have customers that are not within your line organisation and communicate what you are doing to your team/boss regularly, it can be extremely empowering to be receiving no direction. The only negative I see is that it makes moving on within your current organisation a little harder - you have to actively work to be recognised by others in senior roles.